1,470 temporary co-workers working at Colruyt Group
Two weeks ago, Colruyt Group launched an appeal to temporary unemployed people to come and help in the group's stores, logistic distribution centres and production workshops. The appeal did not fall on deaf ears, that much is certain. In less than one week, Colruyt Group received 5,000 reactions of people offering their help. 1,470 temporary employees are working in Colruyt Group stores today. Moreover, an equal number of student workers are helping and the group can also count on the help of 150 internal co-workers.
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
"We want to thank all applicants for the massive interest", says Liesbeth Sabbe, HR manager at Colruyt Group. "We needed 2,000 temporary workers, mainly to handle the busy end-of-year period ahead and to unburden our internal co-workers a little. That twice as many people were interested, is heartwarming. It shows that people have understood how important the food sector is."
In the past few weeks, Colruyt Group made an extra effort to screen all CV's received. The group's selection department contacted people judged fit for the work based on their CV as quickly as they could. Because reading all CV's and contacting suitable candidates is a labour-intensive process, the selection department called in 15 extra co-workers, mainly former store managers, to accelerate the selection process.
Helping hands for the stores
Today, we have 1,470 temporary workers in the Colruyt Group stores. Liesbeth Sabbe: "We also have a number of possible candidates on a back-up list according to the region where they want to work. So we are very pleased with this result." The special mail address [email protected] is now closed again. Everyone who applied can expect a reaction from Colruyt Group, either by mail or by telephone.
Most of the spontaneous applicants set to work in one of Colruyt Group's stores. Aaron Malfait, who works as a truck driver for a furniture business in normal times, is working at Colruyt Dendermonde since 2 November. "The company where I work is closed now due to corona", says Aaron. "When I saw Colruyt's appeal in social media, I immediately applied for a job. Colruyt called me that same day. A few hours and a couple of phone calls later, everything was arranged and I could go to work at Colruyt Dendermonde. I like it a lot here: I had some selling experience from another life and when there is something I don't know the colleagues help me."
At this moment, 150 internal co-workers are stepping in and 1,400 student workers are working in Colruyt Group's food stores. As a result of this appeal, the group is also starting new collaborations with stricken companies such as Decathlon and ZEB, whose co-workers can work at Colruyt Group for the time being. "Today, we are working with the reactions we received. Furthermore, we still have vacancies for store personnel as well as for numerous other positions such as technicians, engineers and IT profiles", Liesbeth Sabbe concludes.
People who would like to have a permanent job at Colruyt Group can have a look at our jobsite https://jobs.colruytgroup.com.
Questions?
If you want more information about the call for temporary workers or if you want a testimonial with one of the people who responded to our appeal and is working with us now, feel free to contact Colruyt Group's press office.